My Quilt

I was acquitted in traffic court yesterday and my ticket dismissed! (Yeah!) It was because I had a good driving record. However, some day we will stand before God and be judged by Him – a much more frightening scenario. How is God going to judge us then? Here’s a great story given to me by my friend Brenda that describes what will happen when we walk close to the Lord.

As I faced my Maker at the last judgment, I knelt before the Lord along with all the other souls.

Before each of us was lain our lives like the squares of a quilt in many piles. An angel sat before each of us sewing our quilt squares together into a tapestry of our life.

As my angel took each piece of cloth off the pile, I noticed how ragged and empty each of my squares were. They were filled with big holes. Each square was labeled with a part of my life that had been very difficult; the challenges and temptations that it seemed I was faced with every day. I saw that some of the hardships I endured were the largest holes of all.

I glanced around me and noticed that nobody else had such empty squares. Some had a tiny hole here and there. They had tapestries filled with rich color and the bright hues of worldly fortune. I gazed upon my own life and was disheartened.

My angel then began sewing together the ragged pieces of cloth, threadbare and empty that were like binding air.

Finally, the time came when each life was to be displayed, held up to the light and the scrutiny of truth. The others arose, each in turn, and held up their tapestries. Their lives had been so full. My angel looked on me and nodded for me to rise and come forward.

My gaze dropped to the ground in shame. I hadn’t had all the worldy achievements and success. I had love in my life and laughter, but there had also been trials of illness, false accusations and financial setbacks. These had taken me off course so that I had to start over many times. I often struggled with the temptation to just quit but I was able to muster up the strength to go on and begin again. Yes, I spent many nights on my knees in prayer, asking the Lord to guide me and to love the unlovable. And now I had to face the truth; my life was what it was and I had to accept it that way.

I rose and lifted the combined squares of my life to the light. An awe-inspired gasp filled the air of those around me. I gazed around at the others who stared at me with wide eyes.

Then, I looked at the tapestry before me. Light flooded the many holes creating the image of the face of Christ. Then our Lord stood before me, with warmth and love in His eyes. He said, “Every time you gave over your life to Me, it became My life: My hardships and My struggles. Each point of light in your life is when you stepped aside and let Me shine through until there was more of Me than there was of you.

My all our quilts be threadbare and worn, allowing Christ to shine through!

The Alphabet Prayer, Part II

Meek and mild are you, O Lord,

And merciful at all times.

Now, I ask you to work

And intervene on our behalf.

Open the right doors,

And close the wrong ones,

Please have mercy on us,

And answer our requests,

Remember me, O Lord,

And hear my petitions.

Save me, O Lord,

Redeem me from the mouth of the lion.

Totally, I will trust in You,

And remember your salvation.

Until the ends of the earth,

May Your truth be known.

Very mightily move on my behalf,

And prove to me Your Word.

Wholly Yours am I, O Lord,

I still love You,

Forever I am Yours,

Your zeal will forever be mine.

Amen…

The Alphabet Prayer, Part I

(I dremt I should write this in my blog. Every other line rhymes and I did here lines A - K. Next week, I will do the rest.)

All my hope is in You

For You, O Lord, do great things.

Black may be the night

But You will show up in the morning.

I will call unto You right now,

And You will answer me.

Darkness covers the Earth

But You are the light of the world.

Everyone has gone astray,

Send your Word to guide us.

For You alone, I give praise,

For You are my salvation,

Give praise unto the Lord always

Even in rough times.

He alone can save you,

Just trust in Him.

I love You, Lord, and praise You,

With all my heart, I worship You.

Jesus, Master of my soul,

I give you everything, even my life.

Kind and loving are You, Lord.

And your precepts are always right.

The Recompense of the Reward, Part II

            I was going to end last week with the recompense of the wicked, but I just happened to look at the devotional I was reading and the one for October 7^th said this: “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” (Heb. 11:26)

            I nearly choked on my breakfast! I was wondering if I should add anything to my little Bible study and I guess this was the Lord’s response.

            The point of this Scripture makes is that Christ gives us a different kind of reward than the wicked get: we get the reward of heaven with Him. Yes, you must suffer here below and go through many trials, but we have a wonderful reward awaiting us. We can be like Moses and esteem the reproach of Christ greater than the pleasures and treasures of Egypt. The reproach means the blame, shame or disgrace we have to go through. And that’s what reproach means according to Webster and summarizes what we sometimes experience when rough things happen; things that happen that our not our fault, but happen anyway. But we will have a payment someday too: the recompense of our reward in heaven if we hold fast to our faith.

            Lord , we pray for your help and strength right now. We can’t go through this on our own! We need your grace and guidance. Please give us the fruit of the Spirit and the peace of your presence in our hearts. May your Holy Spirit fill us with love for you and for others also. In Jesus Name, Amen.

The Recompence of the Reward - Part I

I was sitting in a classroom the other day co-teaching with a teacher who mentioned one of the students' vocabulary words was recompense. She said she didn't know anything about it, but I knew it was from the Bible. I thought about it and looked it up in a concordance and the next day when I saw her again, I told her about it. She said some of her students had told her that it was in the Bible too.

When I looked it up, I noticed there were many references to this word in God's Word. Here is one reference I particularily liked and felt the Lord wanted me to write about it: "For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation..?"(Hebrews 2:2-3)

This interesting passage in Hebrews emphasizes the need for salvation. Every sin and every folly of mankind has a consequence or "recompense of reward" which also means payment. The reward here the author of Hebrews is talking about is the "wages of sin". (Romans 3:23).

Think of all the sins of our society and culture today; all the violations of God's law which are myriad and increasing every day. Without a revival soon, we aren't going to have a great future especially as a country. Marxism and Feminism are being promoted in our schools every day - I've seen it first-hand - and Christianity is being trashed. What will be the consequences? If things don't change, it will be the payment of sin. Yep, that's it. Economic hardship, loss of jobs, loss of homes, more taxes and regulation and more social decay will be our future.

Just read Isaiah chapters 1-4 and you can see the same pattern. Its a society that has rejected God over and over again. The only salvation is not in politics or in philosophy. These have always proven to be a dead end... I've seen the same falsehoods rehashed over and over again over the last 40 years and they've never worked. They just get repackaged and recycled for each new generation.

Next week, I will talk about the positive side of the "recompense of reward" so stay tuned...to be continued...

Lord, we thank you for your mercy and dying on the cross for our sins. We will never forget your love and grace and how much you did for us. We're glad we can avoid the "recompense of reward" and be able to have all those sin debts canceled by your Blood! In Jesus Name, Love, Laura

Goodness and Mercy

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Ps 23:6)

"The Lord is my shepherd" starts this psalm and it ends with this wonderful promise above. So, if we follow the Lord as our good shepherd, goodness and mercy shall follow us. In the Webster's dictionary, it defines goodness as "quality or state of being good: the virtue of character, decency, honesy, integrity, morality, probity, rectitude, righteousness, and uprightness." Mercy means: "compassion shown to an offender; divine favor; a fortunate circumstance."

But goodness is impossible for any of us as a human being. The Bible says: "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) And as it states in Isaiah 64:6, our righteousness is as filthy rags. Our righteousness is not our own, it is imputed through the blood of Jesus Christ. "For by faith are ye saved through faith, not by works lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8) Being good or religious can't change our status in God's eyes. We can't do anything to save ourselves or keep ourselves saved. We can only do good through the goodness of Jesus Christ.

Mercy means that Christ has forgiven us and it also means we can now forgive others and show compassion to them. "Righteousness and peace have kissed each other." it says in Psalm 85:10. Without the righteousness of Christ, there is no peace.

And, of course, the biggest challenge of all is I Corinthians chapter 13, the love chapter. If we all lived by this philosophy, most of the problems of the world would be gone... But because of rebellion and sin that's not going to happen any time soon. However, we can still shine as lights in the world and know that goodness and mercy will follow us just like it says in this great psalm...and it does. Believe me, it does if you just walk in his love...

Thank you Lord for your great love for us as shown on Calvary! Let us never forgot what you did for us on the Cross! Thank you for all your blessings and may we always walk in your righteousness, mercy and love! In Jesus Name, Amen!

Thou Preparest A Table Before Me...Comfort In Troubled Times

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies, Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. (Ps 23:5)

Sometimes God puts us in a difficult situation with enemies all around us on every side. We feel closed in and defeated. We don’t feel like there is any hope for us. We’re between the Egyptians and the Red Sea.

Do you ever feel that way? I certainly do and I cry out to the Lord for help. Still, He doesn’t always help the way we ask Him to. He holds our feet to the fire. We feel the flames of the fierce fiery trial. He tests us even when all around us the world is watching and probably hoping for our defeat. But it’s not going to happen, sorry to disappoint them. God is in control and more powerful than all our enemies combined.

Though there be a sinkhole under our house, the cracks widen more each day,

Though we’re under water, we’re desperate and the problems won’t go away.

Though I just got a 200 dollar speeding ticket, and I don’t remember a thing.

(I think its menopause and my memory is evaporating…)

Though I worked 45 hours and there’s no end in sight to my labor,

Though both of us are exhausted, and our resources are few and meager.

Though the stock market plunged 400 points, still we can be confident and not afraid.

We’re standing on the solid rock of Jesus and in Him we can sing his praise.

So I will go, plead my case, in the presence of the pagans I will cry.

I will throw myself on the mercy of the court and ask for the grace of God…

And also pray our mortgage can be refinanced so we can keep our home

But even if we become homeless and destitute, we can still praise Him alone.

Because He is sovereign, right and true. He will guide us with his staff and chasten us with his rod

He will bless us in the presence of our enemies and protect us in the midst of the trial.

And though we lose everything, this one thing is sure, He loves us and everything is secure in Him...

 Father, Thank you for strength. Thank you for courage and hope of eternal life with you. We love you and trust in you these most turbulent times and abide in your grace. Keep us looking up to you and resting in your arms of love. In Jesus Name, Amen.